So, today I began experiencing some issues with my RX8. After a hard drive (Going fast), I stopped to drop someone off. (There was NO street racing or any of that **** involved). I noticed it was idle-ing horrible. Makes a "popping noise" when I tried driving it, or revving it up in general. I recently gutted the CAT, so I had a CEL for that (P0420). Now I also have a P0139 up, for "failure" of the 02 sensor.

When it idles, it idles rough. When I try to rev up, it makes a "popping" noise - It sounds as if the air intake is grabbing air quickly then not taking any, etc., etc. Also sounds like there is a vibration/knock/tick.

Right now I am thinking I will replace the ignition, plugs, and clean the MAF/IAT, and possibly change the 02 sensor, but to be honest, I have NO idea what is going on with it. I'm kinda scared that something is wrong with the internals

If anyone can please help, it would be GREATLY appreciated...

EDIT: Also, I have one of them shitty K&N Intakes. Came with car, and sadly haven't changed to OEM... hoping to soon.... or Mazdaspeed one. Anyways, there is one on it, and the MAF and IAT were dirty a while ago which ended up resulting in a clogged CAT, which I gutted.

 

Also, here is a video I took of what it sounds like
(Its not my voice in the vid, its my girlfriends lol)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgRB_eyj2lM

 

Bump, in need of advice or insight into possibly problems

 

If it were me, I would consider replacing the O2 sensor first, replacing the spark plugs and wires, cleaning the fuel injectors, and cleaning the MAF sensor and IAT sensor with MAF Sensor Cleaner (not brake parts cleaner it's a little too harsh for sensitive sensors like the MAF sensor). Also cleaning the contacts to those sensors with contact cleaner and putting a very tiny amount of contact grease on the pins. Also you might check the MAF sensor with a voltmeter to make sure it's working right, youtube has some good videos on how to check them with a voltmeter. Harbor Freight has a pretty reasonably priced Noid Light Test kit (about $20) you can use to test the signal going to the fuel injectors and to the coil packs. Also they have a pretty cheap Inline Spark Tester (about $3) if you want to test the ignition coils, plugs, and wires prior to replacing them. A code scanner is also pretty handy to check and see if your sensors are giving you realistic numbers. A cheap code scanner works just fine, but a cheap one is still about $100, so that might be something to borrow from a friend. You might want to take a look at your throttle body and make sure it's working right. As you probably know, we have drive by wire, so just because you press the accelerator doesn't necessarily mean the throttle body is opening like you want it. It couldn't hurt to check your oil level, just to make sure. If none of that helps, the other thing I would try is disconnecting the battery for a little while, hook it back up, and see if it still does it. When computers act crazy, sometimes they just need to be rebooted, disconnecting the battery will do that. Also, if your air filter is hasn't been cleaned and recharged in a while that could exasperate smaller problems.

 

After watching your video a couple more times, it almost sounds like one of your spark plugs has been taken out and your dispersing your air/fuel into the air. I flooded mine the other day and to clear it I took out the spark plugs and cranked on it for a little bit, and that's kind of what it sounded like. Have you looked under the engine to look and see if your leaking any fluids in case a seal is blown or something?

 

No, I haven't. I will shortly here though, see whats going on with it. When you say seal, are you talking engine seal, or like a spark plug is loose?

Also, I am thinking I am going to order the BHR Ignition, get some new plugs, and get a new 02 sensor - assumably I will buy the one on the Cat (Even though my Cat is gutted)

Also, I am planning on cleaning the MAF/IAT today with some contact cleaner. Unfortunately the seal on the maf unit is broken so I will have to replace that as well.

I hope I can get some more insight into this, and thanks for everything you've helped with so far

 

It would be good to look at any sealing surfaces on your engine you can see with out disassembling too much. But, you might take a close look at your spark plugs to make sure they are getting a good seal.

I was looking at another thread (https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-trouble-shooting-95/p0335-eccentric-shaft-position-sensor-circuit-problem-car-will-not-idle-194505/) and some guys were saying the Eccentric Shaft Position Sensor has a tendency to pick up metal junk off the road (since it's magnetic) and throw off your computer. It sounds like it's an easy enough thing to take out, clean, and put back.

 

Hmm I will check that out. As for the CEL of P0139 - Thats for the 02 sensor, but I am not sure which one, I am assuming the one on the Catalytic converter?

 

new engine time ....

 

^ oh Team, I really hope your wrong lol. Think im doing any good by replacing the ignition and o2 ?

 

I really hope its not new engine time.... does anyone have anything to say as what could be causing my problems and possible solutions? I was thinking of getting BHR ignition, new plugs, and o2 sensor.

Would this be the correct o2 sensor I am looking for? (The one on the CAT is the one I THINK I need, as I got the P0139)

http://cgi.ebay.ca/mazda-rx8-02-sens...#ht_500wt_1024

And I found this... I am not sure what work it would take to install all of this, or if I will need too..

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Mazda-Rx8-Rx-8-20...#ht_860wt_1011

Thanks in advance!

 

this wont be a sensor problem.
have the code read again.
make sure all the spark plug wires are secure.

 

The O2 sensor in the Ebay listing is used. I personally wouldn't buy a used O2 sensor. I will buy a lot of stuff used, but that's not one of them. Seems to me that's kind of like buying brake pads used. If your really strapped for cash it's understandable, you gotta do what you gotta do, but I would encourage you to buy a new one. I've bought O2 sensors from Rockauto.com for another car and had good luck. They seem to be reasonably priced and ship fairly quickly.

I would try and exhaust all other options before looking into doing an engine rebuild. I hate my dealership, but I think if I was in your situation I might take it to them and pay the diagnostic fee before I rebuilt the engine. $80 vs. $800+labor. Hopefully it's something cheap and easy.

 

P0139 is for the sensor though? I am not sure what you mean... Thanks!

 

even though you admit to not having any idea whats wrong your first initiative is to start replacing parts without performing any tests on their function. What is wrong with this picture?

Why even waste the money on a rear O2 sensor just so it can notify you that you of a gutted cat converter? It has no impact on engine performance.

Maybe you will be lucky and only suffered a substantial ignition or fuel delivery failure of some sort, but the vid sounds to me like the engine lost some internal seals

I would do a compression check first ...

 

While checking out another thread I found a reset procedure MazdaManiac posted:

 

I'm with Team on this....sounds like it's time for a new motor

 

Yeah, a compression check is easy enough to do. You might want to do that before you buy any parts.

 

Ok, let me rephrase what I said. I have no "concrete" idea what is going on, but do have some ideas. thanks to everyone so far, ill do a compression check shortly. To be honest, in thr beginning I thought maybe a blown seal, then maybe rotor tip, but was scared to think too much into it, though I figured I would have to. Ill do a compression check and check back in here, thanks guys!

 

Also, I read some info on doing a compression test on the car, but I am not sure exactly what I need to do it and proper calculations, so I will most likely take it to my Mazda dealership to get it done (1 hour away unfortuantely)

 

With a handful of exceptions, no one in the US has a rotary compression tester outside of dealerships. It's $85-$120 usually at a dealer.

 

I am planning on getting the compression done early this week at the dealership

 

don't bother with a test . Just take the leading plugs out and put your thumb over the hole while your GF cranks .
If you don't feel 3 distinct even pulses - your engine is toast . Which BTW is a 99% probability given the noise it is making.

 

^ Thanks for the good news! When I do this, make sure the fuel is disengaged, correct?

 

UPDATE!

I am doing a self-compression test tomorrow, and quickly took this video of my code reader results (A cheap one I bought). Sorry if quality is bad, it was taken with my cell phone - And don't mind that rap noise in the background either, I have a few of those songs mixed in with my regular music :p


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo0Ep5HtcZM